July 28, 2025 • 65 mins
In this illuminating episode of Shaping Freedom, Lisane Basquiat is joined by double board-certified psychiatrist and brain health expert Dr. Napatia T. Gettings. Together, they explore the transformative power of understanding brain health as the foundation of mental and emotional well-being.
Dr. Gettings shares her groundbreaking work integrating brain imaging, trauma recovery, and holistic psychiatric care—particularly for youth, professionals, and communities of color. She discusses how early life experiences, systemic challenges, and even overlooked biological factors like gut health and hormones contribute to how we think, feel, and function.
From addressing trauma and sleep hygiene to rethinking how we raise children and care for ourselves, this episode is a must-listen for anyone ready to move from symptom management to true healing.
Learn how to set boundaries without guilt. Join Lisane's next Protect Your Peace Shaping Session today: https://shapingfreedom.com/boundaries-workshop.
Dr. Gettings shares her groundbreaking work integrating brain imaging, trauma recovery, and holistic psychiatric care—particularly for youth, professionals, and communities of color. She discusses how early life experiences, systemic challenges, and even overlooked biological factors like gut health and hormones contribute to how we think, feel, and function.
From addressing trauma and sleep hygiene to rethinking how we raise children and care for ourselves, this episode is a must-listen for anyone ready to move from symptom management to true healing.
Learn how to set boundaries without guilt. Join Lisane's next Protect Your Peace Shaping Session today: https://shapingfreedom.com/boundaries-workshop.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Relational emotional intelligence starts with brain health. If you get
the brain right, your mind will follow right. So we're
talking about raising brain healthy children. How much sprain time,
how much sleep, how much fiber, how many omega three
is like having all those conversations. All those things impact
(00:27):
how you feel, how you show up, how you focus
on any given day.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome to the Shaping Freedom Podcast, where we dive into
conversations that inspire personal growth, transformation and clarity and challenging times.
I'm your host, lysan boskiat today's guest is someone who
is bringing liberation to the mental health space through both
science and spirit. Doctor Napasha Gettings is a double board
(00:56):
certified psychiatrist, speaker, and founder of the Brain Based Holistic
Health Institute. She's known for her groundbreaking work integrating brain imaging,
trauma recovery, and executive function coaching into a holistic psychiatric
model that treats the whole person, not just the diagnoses.
(01:19):
Her training with doctor Daniel Aman and the Aiman Clinics
sharpened her focus on what's happening beneath the surface, how
things like inflammation, undiagnosed trauma, and brain chemistry contribute to
behaviors we've long misunderstood or misjudged. She's a fierce advocate
for mental wellness in youth, professionals, and communities of color,
(01:42):
and she's using her voice to disrupt outdated ideas about
what it means to be healthy, resilient, and well. This
is a conversation about more than mental health. It's about
reclaiming sovereignty over your mind, healing generational patterns at the
neurological level, and choosing to shape a future rooted in clarity, dignity,
(02:04):
and self respect. Welcome to the podcast, Napasha.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Thank you, Thank you so much for that wonderful introduction.
I think you captured just about every passion.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
I think there's more. Though I think there's more. I
think that I'm really looking forward to hearing even more.
That was just what I could gather.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
First of all, I just before we even get started,
So you and I met very recently at an event
and we started chitty chatting about I don't even know
how we got onto the topic of brain health, but
when we did, the passion and how deeply connected to
(02:59):
the work that you doing radiated from you, Napasha, I
was just so impressed and so touched by how excited
you were to share this knowledge that you have and
this work and experience that you've been building. And so
(03:19):
I knew at that time, you know, for many reasons,
and that was the thing that led me to right there.
Like at we were at an event with hundreds of people,
and in the middle of all of it, I was like, girl,
would you come on my podcast?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yes, I'm so happy to be here, And it's just
so important to me like minded individuals that are also
very passionate about the same messaging and education. And obviously
it doesn't happen every day, so I was super excited
to accept the invitation.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, and I'm so glad that it worked out for
both of us that I just happened, like the serendipitous
nature of the fact that we're here together right now.
You know, I happen to have had some time in
our schedule and you happen to be available, So thank
you so much. So first of all, I wanted to ask,
and again we talked, and we're going to dive deeper
(04:17):
into brain health, and I guess my first question for
you is why brain health? Why are you in the
space of brain health?
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Why brain health. So I've always really been fascinated by
biology and life and growing up. One of my first cousins,
his name is Andre, has autism. He's near fifty now,
and he was the first person that I ever was
(04:53):
around and was able to observe on a personal level
some of the challenges that not only he had with
brain health, but also my aunt taking care of him,
especially as he grew older. I think in general that
we don't get enough education about how our bodies work,
(05:17):
and the brain, for sure, we have really struggled with
understanding how it functions, how to take care of it.
So Andre was definitely that first kind of window into
my fascination with the brain and especially when it's not
working properly. And when I was in high school at
(05:42):
when young, I was in the National Honor Society and
I started to volunteer at a home on the South
side of Chicago is a Recordia home, and all of
the residents there were living with profound intellectual disabilities. I
became a rehabilitation aid and it just something drew me
(06:05):
to the fact that there's so much life in these
individuals that I was caring for, but they couldn't talk
to me and just really being able to communicate with
them in different ways, making sure they were comfortable. Most
of them were living with gtubes and non ambulatory. So
that was really my first real dive into brain health
(06:28):
and from there I took off. But a lot of people,
like a lot of people, I was met with the
fear of the stigma. I can remember when I went
to Dartmouth, I told my father, yeah, I took my
first psychology class. I majoring in psychology. He said, that's
a week science. I would not do that if I
(06:48):
were you. He said it was a week science. Yes,
that was the explanation. So we kind of left it there.
And of course I didn't come all the way to
Dartmouth to major in a week science. So I ended
up pursuing a bachelor's in biology. But once I made
it to my first mid school rotation third year, which
(07:13):
was psychiatry and patient at Bernard Mitchell at University of Chicago,
I was sold again. I just said, well, this is
what I want to do. Like the excitement with just
rounding and being able to spend more time with individuals. Obviously,
Western Medican Western medicine can be so fast paced and
(07:34):
psychiatry was the one specialty where I was really able
to listen to people's stories and understand more about them
as a person and not just a bunch of labs.
And so I went with it, and I have no regrets,
but I will say the in the specialty of Western medicine,
(07:54):
when it comes to different areas of concentrations interest, don't
we don't get the respect that other specialties of medicine did.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
So it's interesting that that we're having this conversation and
that we met, because it's I think that it's been
maybe three years that I have a friend who did
some work. She got a scan or something and she's like,
your brain, and I got a scan and it told
(08:28):
you know, to share, you know, it provided this information,
and it was really the first time that I had
ever heard anyone talk about our brain, and like, everything
is happening up there, you know, up in here, and
but we we look at everything but our brain. So
I was fascinated with that, and it made so much sense.
(08:54):
What is it about our brain? Why should we be
paying attention to our brain?
Speaker 1 (08:58):
So first and foremost, we as human beings have major
biological systems. I always start out with reminding everyone we
have ten major biological systems if you really simplify it,
and they are not separate. So whether I'm talking about
my gastro intestinal system or my reproductive system or my
(09:23):
cardiovascular system, none of those systems are separate from our
central nervous system, which is my favorite system, which is
the system that houses all the electrical wiring, and it's
so powerful. So when you think about the brain and
(09:43):
how not only it impacts all those other systems, but
vice versa, we're multisystemic. You can't take the brain and
put it over here and keep it separate when it
comes to that picture of wellness. And if you go
through the history of psychiatry and medical practice, there's a
(10:05):
lot of reasons why that whole mind body separation occurred,
but we have to reintegrate it. It's what was always
fascinating to me is that in medicine, you've got three
doctors that specialize in brain health. You have neurosurgeons, neurologists,
and psychiatrists, and there's no specialty of medicine where if
(10:29):
you present with the issue, we're not looking for some
type of imaging tool to help us better diagnose and
work up what the challenges may be. If we think
about the functions of our brain, we put motor function,
let's say, underneath neurology. If I lose blood flow to
(10:51):
my motor strip, there's really no stigma with that. I
don't say, well, pray about it, and I mean we pray,
we do, but I'm not going to suggest that this
is something within your self control or something that you
willfully can impact. The motor system has lost blood flow, right,
(11:15):
so it's injured. The point I'm making is when we
look at the brain areas that have more control over mood, sleep,
wake cycle, emotion, those things, there's a whole different approach. Right.
A neurosurgeon is never going to operate on your brain
(11:35):
without taking a picture first. But when it comes to psychiatry,
if we're not talking about motor function or loss of sensation,
or let's even say electrical misfiring in the case of
someone being diagnosed with epilepsy, If now I didn't sleep
for five days and I'm really excited, or what some
(11:56):
people may refer to as having a manic episode, now
we start to weave in other things, spirituality, ethics, moral,
all those things, so it gets very complicated, and we've
gotten away from using basic imaging and functional imaging and
applying it also to what falls under that psychiatry area
(12:22):
of specialty. So the types of images that most people
are familiar with when it comes to the brain are
structural images. You go to the er, let's say you've
had an accident or a stroke. We're going to put
you in a CT scanner and we'll get information about
(12:43):
structural issues, but it doesn't give us functional information. So
when you think functional, think blood flow, think brain activity.
We use functional imaging all the time in medicine for
cardiovascular health other organ systems, but we have not applied
(13:03):
it to psychiatry, and that's a huge problem.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Let's talk about you mentioned mood and emotions, and let's
talk about the fact that there are so many people
who are very highly functioning in the world, but who
are also walking around emotionally unwell on the inside. And
(13:29):
how does this work that you're doing or are there
any tips or any information that you can share with
those folks. Because the thing is is that because I
don't remember any doctor ever saying to me, let's talk
about your brain, never right, And so I think that
(13:52):
we you know, there's kind of the psychological aspect or
the psych you know talk therapy that many of us do,
or you know, linguistic programming to kind of help. But
what can a person who is highly functioning yet feeling
emotionally distressed? What do you have for those folks or
(14:16):
how does this fit into the quality of life for
those individuals?
Speaker 1 (14:22):
First approach is to take an integrated approach. So I
mentioned ten major biological systems. There are three systems that
really hugely impact our emotional well being if there is
an underlying functional piece that we haven't properly worked up
(14:43):
or diagnosed. So starting with the gut. Gut health is
hugely important. We refer to the gut as the second brain.
If you think about gut tissue, it kind of looks
like brain tissue, and everything that you put in there
is going to have an impact on your brain. So
I work with a lot of functional colleagues that specialize
(15:07):
more in GI health. If a person comes to me
highly successful, really struggling with emotional wellness, I do a
full thorough evaluation starting with gut. Next hormone. Our indocrine
system is hugely intertwined with our central nervous system. We
(15:29):
actually have hormone glands deeply seated in the brain. You
can't separate the two. A lot of people who are
high performing under a lot of stress. We can see
that through different lab values with stress hormones, whether it
be cortisol or DHA, those are telltale signs as to
(15:54):
why a person may be experiencing exhaustion, burnout, just a
lower level of tolerance. Right for all the things when
it comes to our hormone system. I also educate about aces.
So anyone that comes to me is hugely important that
they understand they didn't just pop up where they are
(16:17):
right now. In terms of their emotional well being, we
have to start at the beginning. I'm big on timeline
where did you grow up, Who did you grow up with,
What type of messaging did you hear. I'm big on
identifying belief systems, or as I call it, your bs,
all the things that you've downloaded that your parents or
(16:40):
grandparents or cousins, uncles gave you. Right, the brain is
a big hard drive, so you just keep storing and
storing and storing until next thing. You know. That's your
inner dialogue. So I do a lot of history gathering
in terms of what stressors have you lived through, experienced
(17:03):
from early childhood on through adolescents, young adulthood, and so on.
I would say the other system that oftentimes gets missed,
especially in kind of our lifestyle and this society, would
be immune system. There are lots of infections, pathogens, allergens,
(17:27):
all the things that can trigger our immune system to
be unhappy, and that can lead to inflammation in the brain,
which can also present as low mood, sleep disturbance, brain fog.
So where we are with psychiatry is we diagnose a
(17:48):
lot of symptoms. If you have depression, I'll diagnose you
with major depressive disorder. Right it's twenty twenty five. You
can go see a psychiatrist, you can report symptoms that
are in a DSM five, and you can leave with
maybe two or three medications, no physical exam, no imaging,
(18:10):
not even really a good history. And now you have
several pharmaceuticals, not even any pharmacogenetic testing. We're all different genetically,
so how I respond to one medication may be totally
different than you, And so I would say those are
my first steps educating the individual on all the systems
(18:34):
that impact where they are right now. With their brain
health and helping them to understand some people we're so
far removed from integration and functional medicines, like well, I
just told you I was depressed, But of that, why
are you asking me what I ate last night? You know?
Or why are you asking me how much sleep I got?
Just really walking them through a mnemonic that we use
(18:58):
at a Men Clinics called bright Mind. You hit every
letter in that mnemonic. You won't leave a stone unturned
in terms of fully evaluating why a person may be struggling. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
I love the fact that you because you know obviously
and the work that I do. I love the fact
that you dig into and help a person to dig
into their history and in the ways that their history
could be kind of running the show today.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
And increasing their risk for disease.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yeah. Yeah. And so you studied under doctor Amen.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
And I did. Yeah, I started working with him in
two thousand and twenty two. That's what he.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Hears met amazing and you and I know that a
lot of the work that he's doing is really reshaping psychiatry.
So once you got into like brain imaging, what does
(20:08):
that tell you about the communities that you're serving? And
some of the issues that are plaguing the communities that
you're serving. What has so you opened up your world
just you know, a few years ago to brain imaging.
What has that taught you?
Speaker 1 (20:24):
So during residency we spend a lot of time with
brain imaging. However, it is mostly applied to cases where
you're following for neurosurgical purposes or neurology, whether it be
mri CT scan. What doctor Aman has done is taken
those same tools, those same imaging tools that are readily
(20:49):
used for other specialties of brain health, and now applying
it to psychiatry. Psychiatry is the only specialty in Western
medicine that doesn't look at the organ that they treat.
So there's a big problem with that because people get misdiagnosed.
You may misdiagnose someone based on going off of symptom
(21:12):
clusters with a bipolar disorder, but they actually had a
head injury as a child. Or you may diagnose someone
with depression and ADHD when they actually have a smoldering
infectious process going on from strap that they caught however
(21:34):
many years ago, or lime disease. So what it has
done is it has taken tools that we already have
in the medical field, but allowed them to be used
and applied when individuals present to a psychiatrist. What the
game changer was for me was a young lady who
(21:56):
was brought in about fifteen. Her mother brought her and
for some behavioral changes, some concerns there more isolating, appearing depressed,
and after seeing her functional imaging, I was able to
look at what we through research, has found as indicative
of trauma, known as the diamond pattern. On a scan,
(22:20):
we're able to see that fight or flight area, the
basil ganglia very highly activated. There's another system known as
the singulate gyrus and also limbit. She had a classic
div in pattern, but yet nobody is reporting any trauma.
I explained to her parents, it's hugely important for me
to meet with her alone so that I can fully
(22:42):
assess what else may be going on. After she knew
that her scan supported trauma, she felt comfortable enough to
report sexual abuse that was ongoing from a family member.
She didn't want to talk about it because she was
or that she wouldn't be believed. For me, that was huge.
(23:05):
I've worked with so many kids that are in the system,
that are in the foster care system that aren't able
to speak their truth in certain situations. So many kids
that have had head injuries in the homes that they've
been removed from. It really gives me a picture if
I'm meeting with someone, let's say, at fifteen sixteen with
(23:28):
behavioral disturbances, to look at their brain and see what
information has given me, because you don't always have that
history with adopted kids or kids that are not in
their biological home. The other big takeaways would be the
work that I've been able to do with individuals that
(23:49):
have traumatic brain injuries, whether it be professionals in the NFL,
survivors of domestic violence. TBI is a major issue. You
even mild TBIs.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
What is TBIs an acronym.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
For traumatic brain injury. A lot of people have mild
traumatic brain injuries. They're not aware or it's been minimized. Right,
Oh yeah, I had a car accident twenty years ago.
It's nothing to do with why I'm feeling anxious right now.
It might right, And so being able to see different
(24:25):
brain systems, teach the neuro anatomy, help people understand if
I damage my temporal lobs, that's the part of your
brain behind the temples, which happens to be in a
very vulnerable area. Even if you have whiplash that can
present with anxiety, it could present with paranoia. There are
(24:47):
structures there that are responsible for sensing danger in the environment.
If they're not firing properly, you may sense danger that's
not there. So there's so many pieces of information that
I am able to get with an image. And if
(25:07):
you think about it, why wouldn't we image the brain
just because we're talking about emotions in psychology, Like, to me,
it just makes no sense that we've like normalized that
being Okay, why would you put a medicine you haven't
even seen the organ? So I just think that we've
(25:28):
really gotten away from some common sense.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
So here's what's brilliant about this to me, and that
is that I would imagine and I haven't done this yet,
and I'll just say that full disclosure, right, so interested
in doing it, And I will tell the audience that
I actually am going to do a brain scan in
the very near future, and I'll come back and talk
about that a little bit once I do it. But
(25:53):
what's brilliant about that to me is that it gives
like in the example of that young life that you
spoke about. It gives a person something to move toward.
It gives information so that you can see kind of
like it's the physical illustration of what a person may
(26:16):
not have the capacity to be able to explain to
you is what I would imagine happened for that person.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Because paralysis we can see, yes, Seizures, yes, we can
see right when it comes to again, the motor sensory
malfunction of the brain, we can see that. We can
see cognitive deficits based on a person's behavior intellect what
they are not able to do. But when a person
(26:46):
has to put into words how trauma is affecting their
fight or fight system versus seeing it with imaging, that's
a game changer. Also, you have people who are not sure.
I mean, putting us all in this diagnostic manual is
(27:08):
hugely limiting and it does a huge disservice for a
full functional approach to brain health and wellness. And I
think it also adds to a lot of the stigma
that people run from when it comes to psychiatry. We
have to be real. Having certain diagnoses can impact professional
(27:33):
options right, Having certain diagnoses can potentially impact your own freedoms,
and we've come a long way from a field where
you could essentially be locked up, indefinitely, shamed, your family, shame,
all those things. We're still feeling all that. We're still
(27:54):
the one specialty of medicine that can hospitalize someone in volvoluntarily,
So it doesn't always lend itself to the most comfortable exchange.
A lot of times people approach psychiatrists with great hesitancy
because while they want to speak on what it is
that is going on with them, in the back of
(28:16):
their mind they're constantly thinking, is this the thing that
I say that.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Will then that'll get me in trouble?
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Yeah? Exactly.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
I'm thinking about all the different people that I know,
all the experiences, all the clients, right, and the ability
to start at an assessment of really what's going on,
not just what you can speak, but what's happening in
your body physically. My mother was mentally ill, and I
always felt that there was something, and for most of
(28:51):
her life as an adult struggling with mental illness, she
tried to find ways to nourish herself or to find,
you know, foods or tonics or different things that would
help to alleviate some of the symptoms of her mental illness.
(29:14):
And I even then, like I was on that road
with her, because there's got to be it's impossible that
I think that we treat mental illness as if it
just is. It just is what it is. And now
we're going to move forward and it's chronic and this
is just who how you are going to experience this lifetime.
(29:40):
And it is such an epiphany to hear from the brain,
the medical community that focuses on the brain, that just
the simplicity in let's take a look at what's going
on in there, correct, Right, Let's take a look at
what's actually happening physically and treat it. And that's really
(30:03):
the mind body connection. Like that is the connection. But
it hadn't been brought in enough.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
At all, right, Like just even think about how because
imaging is not considered a normal, established part of a
psychiatric work up in a lot of cases, insurance doesn't
pay for it. Right. Still still yes, and we're talking
(30:32):
about types of images. Right, So if I come into
an er and I have paralysis on one side, the
first thing they're gonna do is image my brain.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
They're not going to talk to you until they've taken
a look at what's happening physically in so many cases.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
But if I come in suicidal, they're not going to
do that, right, So think about what's considered diagnostic criteria
for paying for scans, for considering it medically indicated. There
(31:12):
are lots of rules around that. There are also rules
around paying for treatments. One of the best treatments for
people that have had a head injury is hyperbaric oxygen. Well,
the FDA pays for or proves hyperbaric oxygen for certain conditions,
but head injuries is not on that list.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
How is that possible?
Speaker 1 (31:36):
So there's a lot that we have to do in
terms of the system with access, because you can still
have all these great information, but when it comes to
our communities and really getting it to the underserved and
making it affordable, that is a whole another challenge, right
(31:59):
Doctor Amen, myself and other doctors are taking part in
this brain health initiative with the Faith Committee at the
White House, where there's a lot of attention being drawn
to the entire system being broken, getting away from even
(32:20):
using terms like mental illness because it's so stigmatizing, but
normalizing brain healthy conversations. I'm talking about my brain. I
can give you another example. Some people who have OCD
obsessive compulsive disorder, where there's a lot of checking and
repetitive compulsive thinking. Most people don't know that that can
(32:44):
be caused by a bacteria, right, And that a lot
of children who present with a sudden onset of OCD
symptoms have recently had a strap infection, and that there
are certain antioxidants and supplements that you can get instead
of giving them prozac right to help with those symptoms,
(33:06):
and antibiotics. Right. So, until we understand that we shouldn't
be diagnosing people based on their symptoms, will continue to
have people walking around with underlying health conditions that have
not been properly worked up and medicated with pharmaceuticals that
(33:32):
unfortunately can lead to long term negative outcomes. My cousin
Andre now lives with tardiv dyskinesia because he was given
a certain class of medication that we refer to as neuroliptics.
He was given that class of medication for years and
(33:54):
it long term can cause the brain to present like
someone with Parkinson's, so they refer to that as tart
out dysconesia. It's an uncontrolled movement because of the mechanism
of the medication over many decades, a lot of people
(34:16):
are living that, some of whom weren't even told in
some cases that it was a risk.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
So, yeah, you know, we talk on this podcast and
all of the work that I do is around generational
healing and through the lens your lens as a psychiatrist.
What role does brain health play in legacy health?
Speaker 1 (34:46):
Huge starting with conversations, starting with just even being able
to talk about cognitive functioning and brain health. Going back
to what I told you about my father's comment, my
father is a Vietnam War veteran, experienced a lot of trauma,
(35:06):
survived malaria, grew up in Wentworth Gardens on the South
Side of Chicago. His father was from Kingston, Jamaica. My
grandmother really struggled financially. There was a lot of trauma.
But for many generations, you don't talk about that. You
(35:27):
don't talk about things that may lead to you being
perceived as weak, lesser than not capable. There are lots
of experiences when it comes to generational healing that I'm
gonna say, baby boomers, they're not going to talk about
(35:47):
like that's not how they were raised. They were raised
here no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. What
goes on in his house stays in his house. And
for a lot of that it was for protection, right.
And so I think that generational healing is so important.
It's so hard for one or two people in a
family dynamic to want to free themselves from the shackles
(36:11):
of trauma and trauma and all the things, and then
have a multitude of other family members that see them
as messy or bringing up stuff that we don't want
to talk about. It's such a delicate dance. And so
I am just like you in that regard. I believe
that healing has to start a lot of that generational
(36:35):
trauma that in some families have been there for many,
many generations, and being able to not approach it from
a shameful place, but a place of being motivated to heal,
to come out on the other side with new information,
(36:56):
knowledge and empowerment instead of continuing to pass on negative,
negative brain health outcomes is what is how I said,
I don't know if you're familiar with the Acist study,
but Adverse Childhood Experiences Survey, I would encourage any one
(37:20):
of your audience to go through that survey and understand
that there is a disease connection to experiencing early childhood
adverse events, whether it be in your home outside the home,
it is hugely important for you to not only take inventory,
(37:41):
but to do all the things that will help you
reset your health. Even if generationally being stressed out, being
in fight or flight is normalized and suppressing and not
talking right. Helping people to just live in their truth
and not have to deny what it is about them
(38:05):
that maybe is not accepted in their family or accepted
in certain spaces that makes you sick, okay, And so
I think that piece is really really important for the
audience to understand. We start off very early on impacting
the health of our children, our teenagers, our young adults
(38:27):
by the messages that we give them, everything that they're watching,
everything that we're saying, modeling all the things. This is
the hard drive, it's being downloaded, and it's hard to
delete files once they're in there. So I try to
help people as much as I can delete and download
(38:47):
new information.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
And make some space in there. No, you know, And
I want to stay here for a second because I
think what needs to be normalized is to be able
to talk about even what's not seen. I think we're
taught and programmed to appear normal, to appear functioning, to
function higher, and when we feel some struggle with that,
(39:14):
to just do better, get more organized, get more focused,
work harder, you know, and we treat ourselves and as
a result, other people like a robots yep.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
You know.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
And I think that if we the more, this is
information that has to get out there. These are the
kind of conversations that we need to have at the
(39:52):
table because if someone were to come to the table
and excuse the grossness of this, but throw up on
the table, we'd address that correct because something happened that
we all see.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
It's tangible.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
It's tangible exactly, That's what it is.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
But that's the difference.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
Yeah, the person who's sitting at the table struggling to function,
struggling to show up and appear normal. And I'm putting
that in air quotes. We don't see that. And until
more and more parents and I'm close to baby boomer
than I am too millennial, and I know there's a
(40:29):
generation in there that I'm missing, but uh, you know,
I was raised like you pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
And you you know, I'm the daughter of a Haitian
father and a Puerto Rican mother, so you pull yourself
up by your bootstraps. You just it's all about making
it happen. And there was you know, no no disrespect
(40:50):
to my parents at all, but there was no room
to talk about the thing that seemed imperfect, correct, right,
and it was all and it was all with the
best of intention, right, like don't let that get you down.
Just get up and go. You'll be fine, Like get
(41:12):
dressed and get up and take a shower. You're fine,
It's fine, It's okay. And when I think about my
own life as a young person living through my parents
being divorced, and you know, I'm going through like a
series of things that happened in my own life that
I know are very similar to the experiences as so
many people experience. What happens is that behavior gets passed
(41:36):
along to me. Then I take it and I pass
it along to my unchecked. If it goes unchecked, if
I don't stop to say, wait a minute, I'm I'm
hurting this situation happened, how is it impacting me? And
now with this added so simple but formerly so hidden,
(42:00):
this added piece of the puzzle where it's like how
I'm feeling and how the symptoms that are coming out
emotionally and mentally, but also what's happening in my body. Yes,
for us to normalize those conversations and educate parents and
grandparents with what this means and how focusing on brain
(42:26):
health can help the people that they love, we need
to be having those conversations more.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Yes, relational emotional intelligence starts with brain health. If you
get the brain right, your mind will follow. Yeah. Right,
so we're talking about raising brain healthy children. I think
it's baby boomer, gen egg, a millennial, the gen z. Yes, Okay,
(42:58):
I'm the earliest millennial.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Okay, there you go.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
But yeah, but the baby bo I mean, like they're
I just I mean I see it in my own family.
I see it obviously every day in the professional space
where just even that theme of perfectionism, and I tell
perfectionism is not an attainable goal. You're going to be
disappointed every time. And where is the balance with setting
that bar wanting to achieve, but also making sure that
(43:28):
you take care of you unapologetically. We literally live in
a society where you can really really neglect yourself and
get all the accolades right.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
Yes, and be encouraged to neglect yourself.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
You're a hard worker, you push through, you're resilience, right,
all those things, But we need to step away from
when a person needs support, help and a space for
them to keep it one hundred without us labeling that
is weakness or breakdown. I tell people all the time,
(44:06):
where do you think the term she had a nervous
breakdown came from? That's menopause. Why are all.
Speaker 2 (44:12):
These women there were a bunch of other things happening
on top of it. It's too much and you lost.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
All your estrogen, ma'am. Please be nice to yourself, be
gentle with yourself. It's hard out here without especially those
years where our brain is literally adjusting to the decrease
and the fluctuations of those hormones. But I mean being
in the space that I'm in, I get to see
(44:39):
firsthand how hormones affect women when it's really really a
negative impact. But even on the milder side of that spectrum,
you have women every day in that chapter of life,
and we're still expected to show up and show out.
What are we doing to support those biological changes or
you instead of just shaming.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
Yeah, in my friend's circle, they know, they know, but
I will in a minute say I'm sorry, I'm not coming.
Speaker 1 (45:11):
Girl. What do you mean?
Speaker 2 (45:13):
No, I'm not. Well, what are you gonna do? I'm
gonna take a nap.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Girl.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
You can sleep when you're dead.
Speaker 1 (45:16):
I'm like that. Yeah, maybe, but I'm gonna go lay down.
I need a day, Yeah, I need a day. That's
another one that's huge too, especially in the high achieving spaces.
Lack of sleep. You when you're sleeping. People, we look
at sleep. It's just this waste of time, you know,
the whole I'll sleep when I'm dead. Okay. When people
(45:37):
say that to me, I said, well you might get
there a lot sooner than you than you want to, okay,
because you when you sleep, your brain takes out the garbage.
Your brain is firing all day long, all these chemical
reactions and doing things just like that. I mean, you
don't have to think about half of the autonomic stuff
that your brain is doing. You don't think it needs
(46:00):
to be plugged in, Just like your cell phone. That's
when you plug it in, when you recharge your battery.
That's what sleep is anybody that I sleep deprived for
five days, ten days, What do you think they're gonna
look like? If I ductate their eyelids open and put
them in a closet and go back in there, They're
gonna be season, psychotic, manic, possibly all the things. It's
(46:23):
gonna be a big ball of electricity that's miss firing.
So that one, I want to say, for sure, we
really really focus in on sleep hygiene, quality of sleep.
I can't tell you how many scans I've done where
it looks like inflammation, low, low blood flow. The person's like,
I don't know, I think I have ADHD. No, you
(46:46):
have sleep athte Okay, so you have to take in
all of the systems to really accurately diagnose. You know,
so many people want to be at the top of
their game, which I undred percent respect. But there are
lots of natural things that we can do other than saying, okay,
(47:07):
well now I must have this executive function of disorder
and let me take X, Y and Z. You know,
it's kind of the band aid, right.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
So, and the thing is, and the thing that I
am acutely aware of and I know you are as well,
is with all those things you just described in the
person who's sleep deprived and you know, low oxygen to
the brain and all of that. Those are the people
that are raising their children in relationships with other people.
(47:39):
They're your colleagues, you know, they're the people that you're managing,
and the people that are being managed the people that
are managing you. And this is why this is so important.
And I think that because this world society teaches us
(48:00):
and it's not true and it's incorrect that you just
get out there and go in the world and do
the thing, and there's and as long as you're not
bleeding out or falling out, or as long as your
body has not sent you to bed, which our bodies
can do when we've pushed it too far. I no, I,
(48:20):
it's happened to me on more than one occasion. Right.
We think that we're okay, but it's this is a
quality of life discussion. This is what we can do
to more positively impact not just ourselves, but positively impact
our ability to contribute to our familiar legacy.
Speaker 1 (48:43):
It is important, very important.
Speaker 2 (48:46):
So let's let's talk about how for the person who's listening.
And I think that by by now in this conversation
we have talked about all the reasons you need to
be sitting down, ears open, ready to hear this next part. Okay,
understanding how important it is to focus on brain health.
(49:09):
How does a parent help their child or their children
to better understand brain health and what can a person
do for themselves.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
Starting with health literacy, starting with educating on purpose yourself
about how your body works. It's crucial starting very young,
having open conversations about body functions, how to take care
of the body. Right, it's not just a passenger in
(49:44):
the seat of life that's just along for the ride.
We want to be intentional about what we're doing to
take care of ourselves. So I would start very young
with having those conversations with your children and making it fun,
making it interactive, normalizing it. I'm big on report cards
(50:05):
and families. We get graded at school. Let's get some
grades out.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
Let's have a personal development plan at.
Speaker 1 (50:10):
Home, correct, right. I believe that parents should make a
space where their kids can respectfully give them feedback, not
be you know, I'm your parent, you do as I say.
Go sit down and be quiet, but respectfully we're going
to have a conversation. What are some things that you
may need for me, What is it that you'd like
(50:32):
to see me do more of or less of? You know,
in child therapy sessions with parents, those are questions that
I kind of start out with, what are we working on,
where are we getting great grades? Where's their room for improvement?
And just normalizing the conversation. So many people are just
scared to give feedback to individuals because, let's just be real,
(50:57):
a lot of people are not receptive when it comes
to saying, this is what I think you need to
work on.
Speaker 2 (51:03):
But at home, it's the job of the parent to
create a safe space absolutely for children to be able
to share what makes sense, even what doesn't make sense.
That is part of our job. Our role and ask
questions is to ask questions, to talk a little bit less,
ask more questions, and ensure that you're creating a safe
(51:27):
space where your child can come and tell you what's
going on so that you can truly help them correct.
Speaker 1 (51:34):
How we receive that, how we support it and facilitated
is huge. Keep the aces top of mind as you're parenting.
Am I doing any of these things? Am I in
any way creating a toxic traumatic environment for my child?
We all know that doesn't have to be physical abuse
(51:57):
or maltreatment.
Speaker 2 (51:58):
We don't all know that, Pasha, we don't all know
that that's part of the problem.
Speaker 1 (52:03):
Let me be clear that a lot of abuse is
not because of the laying of hands or objects. That's right.
A lot of abuse is neglect, okay, being checked out.
I don't have time to talk to you because I've
got all this stuff I need to do after my
work day, and just you may have all the best intentions,
(52:24):
but how that's received by the child is what's important. Also,
consider just not seeing what the child wants to bring
to you as important, kind of just chewing it away
or like, oh, like you said, you're fine, fine, all
you need to do is blah blah blah. So I
(52:44):
would say having those conversations intentionally. I encourage parents who
I work with to put it on the calendar. We're
going to have our thirty minute meeting where you get
an opportunity to tell me how I'm showing up vice versa.
That way, every time we have these conversations or I'm
giving my child feedback is not just when something is wrong.
(53:08):
The balance with that is huge because a lot of
kids only hear from their parents, and it's something that
they want them to address that they see is wrong.
So you'll get kids to say like, well, yeah, all
my mom or all my dad cares about is if
I have the best grades or if I'm in this organization.
But they don't feel loved outside of that. It's a
(53:30):
performance based love. Okay, if you do X, Y and Z,
then I will show you how much I care. We
need to tell our kids that regardless of what it
is that they're seeking to achieve. I think the teaching
kids very early on how to take care of their brain.
We have a program called brain Thrive to twenty five
(53:52):
that I use with a lot of students whom I
work with. I also live here in Parkland where unfortunately
there was a mass shooting, and I've taken the time
to go into those schools talk to students about all
the things that help grow a beautiful, healthy brain. Again, unapologetically,
(54:14):
what are those ingredients? Right? How much screen time, how
much sleep, how much fiber, how many omega threes? Like
having all those conversations and not making it separate from
how you feel. All those things impact how you feel,
how you show up, how you focus on any given day.
(54:35):
But the emotional intelligence I think is key with kind
of where we're coming from as a collective. Being able
to be there for your kids and create a space
to talk about emotions, to talk about feelings, talk about
relationships with other students and teachers. It is very important
(54:56):
because they're learning right now in real time, just like
they learn how to ride a bike, how to relate
to people. Once they step outside that house and they're
modeling what you're doing, they are downloading a lot of
information consciously unconsciously, and they're going to show up in
the world as a product of all of those ingredients.
(55:18):
So I think that parents need to feel a little
more empowered. I think that everybody talks about work life balance.
We know, for us high achievers who are also parents,
easier said than done right.
Speaker 2 (55:34):
And it's harmony. It's not balanced. It's never going to
be balanced. It's never going to be fifty to fifty.
It's just not how it is.
Speaker 1 (55:40):
There you go, yeah, But making sure that that lesson
is taught, that your child's emotional wellbeing, physical well being
is just as important as their grades and how they're
achieving in school. That message is really lost in a
lot of families across many different cultural groups. To be
(56:04):
honest with you, it's I think it's more of our
you know, priorities that we have in our society.
Speaker 2 (56:10):
Right, And if we're sitting and I'll just I know
we're coming short on time if you're sitting, and if
your defensiveness lead you to say things like, well, I
feed them, I clothed them, I send them to school,
I send them to soccer. I blah blah blah. A
list of things that you do that's indicative of you
(56:31):
looking at the wrong thing, because those are yes, you're
doing that.
Speaker 1 (56:36):
There are some parents that truly I kids you not.
And it's so funny you would say that. Maybe about
four months ago, had a similar conversation with a relative
because we were trying to speak on the dynamic between
that individual and their adult child, and they listed that
same list. Yes, I did this. I put a roof
(56:58):
over your head. I made sure I went to work
every day. I made sure you had clothes on your back,
I made sure you had food in it. And the
conversation was do you think that your child felt love
by you? And that was the list to say, well,
they better because I did all these things so I
know they got to feel loved, and if they don't,
it sounds like a them PROPM.
Speaker 2 (57:19):
But we need to make it make sense because here's
the thing in a relationship, and I'm not going to
go too deep into it, because you and I can
dive into this conversation for five hours. I can feel
it right, I feel it correct. But in a relationship,
if you were in a relationship with someone and you
said to that person, I do not feel cared for,
and that person said to you, what are you talking about.
(57:40):
I took out the garbage last week, I brought you
the newspaper. I'm dating myself. I brought you roses and
gave you a list. I took you out to dinner
and gave you a list of things that they did
for you. What that does is it translates into a
relationship that's based on what that person has taken from themselves.
(58:00):
And we cannot approach our parenting in that way because
our role as parents the basics are to make sure
that your children eat and you know, are fed and
clothed and how that's survival mode exactly. That is survival
mode parenting.
Speaker 1 (58:17):
But we've normalized it to make it as that you
should be given me five stars.
Speaker 2 (58:23):
Yeah, and you get the stars for that. But just
like any other report or report card, right, there are sections,
so you get a for that necessity. Now let's move
on to the other things. Right, how have you taught
this person to be in relationship with themselves?
Speaker 1 (58:44):
Right?
Speaker 2 (58:45):
How have you contributed to the quality of the relationship
that that person is in with themselves? Because that's who
that person has to walk through the rest of their
lives interacting with.
Speaker 1 (58:56):
It's the first relationship we have.
Speaker 2 (58:58):
Yeah. Yeah, and then they want end up going to
Napasha doctor Napasha Tea gettings and she has to work
with them to undo some of that nonsense. Right, So
I'm not trying to take you out of your work.
You know, we need to really pay attention to this.
(59:18):
We need to really pay attention to the importance of
the quality of the relationships that we're having and the
quality of the spaces that we're creating in our homes
and help our children and the people who we love
and the people who are around us to focus on
the right things.
Speaker 1 (59:37):
Like their life depended on it. That's because it actually does,
that's right.
Speaker 2 (59:43):
Yeah, So how can we tell us really quick, like,
what do you do? What does it look like? How
can people interact? How can people come to you to
get some help and support?
Speaker 1 (59:56):
Yeah, so I'm Florida Base. I work with clients all
over the US and some internationally. All of my services
are telehealth, but I use We have eleven clinics nationwide
for brain imaging, so I work with clients wherever you
(01:00:17):
are locally we can arrange for not only a functional imaging,
but also functional assessment. My handle on all social media
is at dr Gettings doctor Gettings. My website is doctor
Gettings dot com. It is currently being revamped and rebuilt,
(01:00:39):
health library coming, and I'm starting an entire new venture
known as Clarion neuro where I'll be integrating lots of
technology that will allow not only the interface with accessing records,
but also imaging labs, all the things. So to find me.
(01:00:59):
It's not doctor Gettings dot Com. I'm really building out
my YouTube channel putting a lot of content on there,
So for those of you YouTubers please go watch subscribe. Yeah,
doctor Getting.
Speaker 2 (01:01:14):
We'll put all that information into the show notes and
doctor Getting's one last question, how can we support you.
How can we support this incredible work that you're doing.
Speaker 1 (01:01:27):
I would say the best way to support me is
have more conversations about brain health just on a daily basis.
I know we create these types of platforms in order
to really educate and take deep dives and go over
all the things, but I think just committing to intentionally
(01:01:51):
talking about brain health and mental wellness does a lot
because so many people are comfortable having those conversations, and
just a little bit of normalizing education and safe spaces
goes a long way making sure that they know that
(01:02:14):
I'm out there, that I'm a resource, and that I
work with a great team of doctors that are really
dedicated to changing this mental illness construct that we have
and transitioning it to a wonderful brain health initiative where
we can all unapologetically talk about our brains.
Speaker 2 (01:02:36):
And how I know you said that you mentioned that
your website you're working on revamping it. How can a
person who's listening, who knows that they need to reach
out to you, how can they do that?
Speaker 1 (01:02:50):
Info at doctor gettings dot com. Okay, that email right
there will get you to my team, and any questions
that you have just send them to info at d
R G E T t I NGS dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:03:10):
Thank you so much for I know how busy you are.
Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
You're welcome. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:03:15):
I appreciate you spending this hour with me, I really do.
And thank you so much for shedding light on something
that is so important, critical, critical to the quality of
the familiar legacy that we pass along and also to
the quality of life that we have. I mean imagine
being able to find a way to actually address some
(01:03:38):
of these hidden discomforts that so many of us live with.
So thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (01:03:44):
Thank you over the work. Thank you for doing I
look forward to working with you and many others. So
I see this is the beginning.
Speaker 2 (01:03:56):
That was such a great conversation. I enjoyed it so much.
Connecting with doctor gettings with such a blessing, a blessing
for all of us. I love learning, and I am
fascinated that I'm getting to learn so much about brain health,
and I guess it's better late than never. I encourage
(01:04:19):
you that if something about this episode resonated for you,
please like and share the episode with other people. And
if there's something in this episode that touched you, if
there's something that you know you need to do differently
to better impact the environments that you live within, please
(01:04:42):
go ahead and do that. The more we're willing to
take small steps towards healthier living mental, emotional, physical, spiritual,
the better we all are. Sometimes we focus so much
on what's happening out there, and I'm here to encourage
you to focus your attention on the place where you
(01:05:04):
truly have the most agency, and that's within yourself. Your
family will thank you for it, the people you're in
relationship will thank you for it. And I want to
deeply thank doctor Napasha Gettings for taking the time to
share her incredible knowledge and experience with us. So until
next time, this is Lisan Boskia with the Shaping Freedom podcast.
(01:05:27):
Be well.
Relational emotional intelligence starts with brain health. If you get
the brain right, your mind will follow right. So we're
talking about raising brain healthy children. How much sprain time,
how much sleep, how much fiber, how many omega three
is like having all those conversations. All those things impact
(00:27):
how you feel, how you show up, how you focus
on any given day.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome to the Shaping Freedom Podcast, where we dive into
conversations that inspire personal growth, transformation and clarity and challenging times.
I'm your host, lysan boskiat today's guest is someone who
is bringing liberation to the mental health space through both
science and spirit. Doctor Napasha Gettings is a double board
(00:56):
certified psychiatrist, speaker, and founder of the Brain Based Holistic
Health Institute. She's known for her groundbreaking work integrating brain imaging,
trauma recovery, and executive function coaching into a holistic psychiatric
model that treats the whole person, not just the diagnoses.
(01:19):
Her training with doctor Daniel Aman and the Aiman Clinics
sharpened her focus on what's happening beneath the surface, how
things like inflammation, undiagnosed trauma, and brain chemistry contribute to
behaviors we've long misunderstood or misjudged. She's a fierce advocate
for mental wellness in youth, professionals, and communities of color,
(01:42):
and she's using her voice to disrupt outdated ideas about
what it means to be healthy, resilient, and well. This
is a conversation about more than mental health. It's about
reclaiming sovereignty over your mind, healing generational patterns at the
neurological level, and choosing to shape a future rooted in clarity, dignity,
(02:04):
and self respect. Welcome to the podcast, Napasha.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Thank you, Thank you so much for that wonderful introduction.
I think you captured just about every passion.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
I think there's more. Though I think there's more. I
think that I'm really looking forward to hearing even more.
That was just what I could gather.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
First of all, I just before we even get started,
So you and I met very recently at an event
and we started chitty chatting about I don't even know
how we got onto the topic of brain health, but
when we did, the passion and how deeply connected to
(02:59):
the work that you doing radiated from you, Napasha, I
was just so impressed and so touched by how excited
you were to share this knowledge that you have and
this work and experience that you've been building. And so
(03:19):
I knew at that time, you know, for many reasons,
and that was the thing that led me to right there.
Like at we were at an event with hundreds of people,
and in the middle of all of it, I was like, girl,
would you come on my podcast?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yes, I'm so happy to be here, And it's just
so important to me like minded individuals that are also
very passionate about the same messaging and education. And obviously
it doesn't happen every day, so I was super excited
to accept the invitation.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, and I'm so glad that it worked out for
both of us that I just happened, like the serendipitous
nature of the fact that we're here together right now.
You know, I happen to have had some time in
our schedule and you happen to be available, So thank
you so much. So first of all, I wanted to ask,
and again we talked, and we're going to dive deeper
(04:17):
into brain health, and I guess my first question for
you is why brain health? Why are you in the
space of brain health?
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Why brain health. So I've always really been fascinated by
biology and life and growing up. One of my first cousins,
his name is Andre, has autism. He's near fifty now,
and he was the first person that I ever was
(04:53):
around and was able to observe on a personal level
some of the challenges that not only he had with
brain health, but also my aunt taking care of him,
especially as he grew older. I think in general that
we don't get enough education about how our bodies work,
(05:17):
and the brain, for sure, we have really struggled with
understanding how it functions, how to take care of it.
So Andre was definitely that first kind of window into
my fascination with the brain and especially when it's not
working properly. And when I was in high school at
(05:42):
when young, I was in the National Honor Society and
I started to volunteer at a home on the South
side of Chicago is a Recordia home, and all of
the residents there were living with profound intellectual disabilities. I
became a rehabilitation aid and it just something drew me
(06:05):
to the fact that there's so much life in these
individuals that I was caring for, but they couldn't talk
to me and just really being able to communicate with
them in different ways, making sure they were comfortable. Most
of them were living with gtubes and non ambulatory. So
that was really my first real dive into brain health
(06:28):
and from there I took off. But a lot of people,
like a lot of people, I was met with the
fear of the stigma. I can remember when I went
to Dartmouth, I told my father, yeah, I took my
first psychology class. I majoring in psychology. He said, that's
a week science. I would not do that if I
(06:48):
were you. He said it was a week science. Yes,
that was the explanation. So we kind of left it there.
And of course I didn't come all the way to
Dartmouth to major in a week science. So I ended
up pursuing a bachelor's in biology. But once I made
it to my first mid school rotation third year, which
(07:13):
was psychiatry and patient at Bernard Mitchell at University of Chicago,
I was sold again. I just said, well, this is
what I want to do. Like the excitement with just
rounding and being able to spend more time with individuals. Obviously,
Western Medican Western medicine can be so fast paced and
(07:34):
psychiatry was the one specialty where I was really able
to listen to people's stories and understand more about them
as a person and not just a bunch of labs.
And so I went with it, and I have no regrets,
but I will say the in the specialty of Western medicine,
(07:54):
when it comes to different areas of concentrations interest, don't
we don't get the respect that other specialties of medicine did.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
So it's interesting that that we're having this conversation and
that we met, because it's I think that it's been
maybe three years that I have a friend who did
some work. She got a scan or something and she's like,
your brain, and I got a scan and it told
(08:28):
you know, to share, you know, it provided this information,
and it was really the first time that I had
ever heard anyone talk about our brain, and like, everything
is happening up there, you know, up in here, and
but we we look at everything but our brain. So
I was fascinated with that, and it made so much sense.
(08:54):
What is it about our brain? Why should we be
paying attention to our brain?
Speaker 1 (08:58):
So first and foremost, we as human beings have major
biological systems. I always start out with reminding everyone we
have ten major biological systems if you really simplify it,
and they are not separate. So whether I'm talking about
my gastro intestinal system or my reproductive system or my
(09:23):
cardiovascular system, none of those systems are separate from our
central nervous system, which is my favorite system, which is
the system that houses all the electrical wiring, and it's
so powerful. So when you think about the brain and
(09:43):
how not only it impacts all those other systems, but
vice versa, we're multisystemic. You can't take the brain and
put it over here and keep it separate when it
comes to that picture of wellness. And if you go
through the history of psychiatry and medical practice, there's a
(10:05):
lot of reasons why that whole mind body separation occurred,
but we have to reintegrate it. It's what was always
fascinating to me is that in medicine, you've got three
doctors that specialize in brain health. You have neurosurgeons, neurologists,
and psychiatrists, and there's no specialty of medicine where if
(10:29):
you present with the issue, we're not looking for some
type of imaging tool to help us better diagnose and
work up what the challenges may be. If we think
about the functions of our brain, we put motor function,
let's say, underneath neurology. If I lose blood flow to
(10:51):
my motor strip, there's really no stigma with that. I
don't say, well, pray about it, and I mean we pray,
we do, but I'm not going to suggest that this
is something within your self control or something that you
willfully can impact. The motor system has lost blood flow, right,
(11:15):
so it's injured. The point I'm making is when we
look at the brain areas that have more control over mood, sleep,
wake cycle, emotion, those things, there's a whole different approach. Right.
A neurosurgeon is never going to operate on your brain
(11:35):
without taking a picture first. But when it comes to psychiatry,
if we're not talking about motor function or loss of sensation,
or let's even say electrical misfiring in the case of
someone being diagnosed with epilepsy, If now I didn't sleep
for five days and I'm really excited, or what some
(11:56):
people may refer to as having a manic episode, now
we start to weave in other things, spirituality, ethics, moral,
all those things, so it gets very complicated, and we've
gotten away from using basic imaging and functional imaging and
applying it also to what falls under that psychiatry area
(12:22):
of specialty. So the types of images that most people
are familiar with when it comes to the brain are
structural images. You go to the er, let's say you've
had an accident or a stroke. We're going to put
you in a CT scanner and we'll get information about
(12:43):
structural issues, but it doesn't give us functional information. So
when you think functional, think blood flow, think brain activity.
We use functional imaging all the time in medicine for
cardiovascular health other organ systems, but we have not applied
(13:03):
it to psychiatry, and that's a huge problem.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Let's talk about you mentioned mood and emotions, and let's
talk about the fact that there are so many people
who are very highly functioning in the world, but who
are also walking around emotionally unwell on the inside. And
(13:29):
how does this work that you're doing or are there
any tips or any information that you can share with
those folks. Because the thing is is that because I
don't remember any doctor ever saying to me, let's talk
about your brain, never right, And so I think that
(13:52):
we you know, there's kind of the psychological aspect or
the psych you know talk therapy that many of us do,
or you know, linguistic programming to kind of help. But
what can a person who is highly functioning yet feeling
emotionally distressed? What do you have for those folks or
(14:16):
how does this fit into the quality of life for
those individuals?
Speaker 1 (14:22):
First approach is to take an integrated approach. So I
mentioned ten major biological systems. There are three systems that
really hugely impact our emotional well being if there is
an underlying functional piece that we haven't properly worked up
(14:43):
or diagnosed. So starting with the gut. Gut health is
hugely important. We refer to the gut as the second brain.
If you think about gut tissue, it kind of looks
like brain tissue, and everything that you put in there
is going to have an impact on your brain. So
I work with a lot of functional colleagues that specialize
(15:07):
more in GI health. If a person comes to me
highly successful, really struggling with emotional wellness, I do a
full thorough evaluation starting with gut. Next hormone. Our indocrine
system is hugely intertwined with our central nervous system. We
(15:29):
actually have hormone glands deeply seated in the brain. You
can't separate the two. A lot of people who are
high performing under a lot of stress. We can see
that through different lab values with stress hormones, whether it
be cortisol or DHA, those are telltale signs as to
(15:54):
why a person may be experiencing exhaustion, burnout, just a
lower level of tolerance. Right for all the things when
it comes to our hormone system. I also educate about aces.
So anyone that comes to me is hugely important that
they understand they didn't just pop up where they are
(16:17):
right now. In terms of their emotional well being, we
have to start at the beginning. I'm big on timeline
where did you grow up, Who did you grow up with,
What type of messaging did you hear. I'm big on
identifying belief systems, or as I call it, your bs,
all the things that you've downloaded that your parents or
(16:40):
grandparents or cousins, uncles gave you. Right, the brain is
a big hard drive, so you just keep storing and
storing and storing until next thing. You know. That's your
inner dialogue. So I do a lot of history gathering
in terms of what stressors have you lived through, experienced
(17:03):
from early childhood on through adolescents, young adulthood, and so on.
I would say the other system that oftentimes gets missed,
especially in kind of our lifestyle and this society, would
be immune system. There are lots of infections, pathogens, allergens,
(17:27):
all the things that can trigger our immune system to
be unhappy, and that can lead to inflammation in the brain,
which can also present as low mood, sleep disturbance, brain fog.
So where we are with psychiatry is we diagnose a
(17:48):
lot of symptoms. If you have depression, I'll diagnose you
with major depressive disorder. Right it's twenty twenty five. You
can go see a psychiatrist, you can report symptoms that
are in a DSM five, and you can leave with
maybe two or three medications, no physical exam, no imaging,
(18:10):
not even really a good history. And now you have
several pharmaceuticals, not even any pharmacogenetic testing. We're all different genetically,
so how I respond to one medication may be totally
different than you, And so I would say those are
my first steps educating the individual on all the systems
(18:34):
that impact where they are right now. With their brain
health and helping them to understand some people we're so
far removed from integration and functional medicines, like well, I
just told you I was depressed, But of that, why
are you asking me what I ate last night? You know?
Or why are you asking me how much sleep I got?
Just really walking them through a mnemonic that we use
(18:58):
at a Men Clinics called bright Mind. You hit every
letter in that mnemonic. You won't leave a stone unturned
in terms of fully evaluating why a person may be struggling. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
I love the fact that you because you know obviously
and the work that I do. I love the fact
that you dig into and help a person to dig
into their history and in the ways that their history
could be kind of running the show today.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
And increasing their risk for disease.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yeah. Yeah. And so you studied under doctor Amen.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
And I did. Yeah, I started working with him in
two thousand and twenty two. That's what he.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Hears met amazing and you and I know that a
lot of the work that he's doing is really reshaping psychiatry.
So once you got into like brain imaging, what does
(20:08):
that tell you about the communities that you're serving? And
some of the issues that are plaguing the communities that
you're serving. What has so you opened up your world
just you know, a few years ago to brain imaging.
What has that taught you?
Speaker 1 (20:24):
So during residency we spend a lot of time with
brain imaging. However, it is mostly applied to cases where
you're following for neurosurgical purposes or neurology, whether it be
mri CT scan. What doctor Aman has done is taken
those same tools, those same imaging tools that are readily
(20:49):
used for other specialties of brain health, and now applying
it to psychiatry. Psychiatry is the only specialty in Western
medicine that doesn't look at the organ that they treat.
So there's a big problem with that because people get misdiagnosed.
You may misdiagnose someone based on going off of symptom
(21:12):
clusters with a bipolar disorder, but they actually had a
head injury as a child. Or you may diagnose someone
with depression and ADHD when they actually have a smoldering
infectious process going on from strap that they caught however
(21:34):
many years ago, or lime disease. So what it has
done is it has taken tools that we already have
in the medical field, but allowed them to be used
and applied when individuals present to a psychiatrist. What the
game changer was for me was a young lady who
(21:56):
was brought in about fifteen. Her mother brought her and
for some behavioral changes, some concerns there more isolating, appearing depressed,
and after seeing her functional imaging, I was able to
look at what we through research, has found as indicative
of trauma, known as the diamond pattern. On a scan,
(22:20):
we're able to see that fight or flight area, the
basil ganglia very highly activated. There's another system known as
the singulate gyrus and also limbit. She had a classic
div in pattern, but yet nobody is reporting any trauma.
I explained to her parents, it's hugely important for me
to meet with her alone so that I can fully
(22:42):
assess what else may be going on. After she knew
that her scan supported trauma, she felt comfortable enough to
report sexual abuse that was ongoing from a family member.
She didn't want to talk about it because she was
or that she wouldn't be believed. For me, that was huge.
(23:05):
I've worked with so many kids that are in the system,
that are in the foster care system that aren't able
to speak their truth in certain situations. So many kids
that have had head injuries in the homes that they've
been removed from. It really gives me a picture if
I'm meeting with someone, let's say, at fifteen sixteen with
(23:28):
behavioral disturbances, to look at their brain and see what
information has given me, because you don't always have that
history with adopted kids or kids that are not in
their biological home. The other big takeaways would be the
work that I've been able to do with individuals that
(23:49):
have traumatic brain injuries, whether it be professionals in the NFL,
survivors of domestic violence. TBI is a major issue. You
even mild TBIs.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
What is TBIs an acronym.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
For traumatic brain injury. A lot of people have mild
traumatic brain injuries. They're not aware or it's been minimized. Right,
Oh yeah, I had a car accident twenty years ago.
It's nothing to do with why I'm feeling anxious right now.
It might right, And so being able to see different
(24:25):
brain systems, teach the neuro anatomy, help people understand if
I damage my temporal lobs, that's the part of your
brain behind the temples, which happens to be in a
very vulnerable area. Even if you have whiplash that can
present with anxiety, it could present with paranoia. There are
(24:47):
structures there that are responsible for sensing danger in the environment.
If they're not firing properly, you may sense danger that's
not there. So there's so many pieces of information that
I am able to get with an image. And if
(25:07):
you think about it, why wouldn't we image the brain
just because we're talking about emotions in psychology, Like, to me,
it just makes no sense that we've like normalized that
being Okay, why would you put a medicine you haven't
even seen the organ? So I just think that we've
(25:28):
really gotten away from some common sense.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
So here's what's brilliant about this to me, and that
is that I would imagine and I haven't done this yet,
and I'll just say that full disclosure, right, so interested
in doing it, And I will tell the audience that
I actually am going to do a brain scan in
the very near future, and I'll come back and talk
about that a little bit once I do it. But
(25:53):
what's brilliant about that to me is that it gives
like in the example of that young life that you
spoke about. It gives a person something to move toward.
It gives information so that you can see kind of
like it's the physical illustration of what a person may
(26:16):
not have the capacity to be able to explain to
you is what I would imagine happened for that person.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Because paralysis we can see, yes, Seizures, yes, we can
see right when it comes to again, the motor sensory
malfunction of the brain, we can see that. We can
see cognitive deficits based on a person's behavior intellect what
they are not able to do. But when a person
(26:46):
has to put into words how trauma is affecting their
fight or fight system versus seeing it with imaging, that's
a game changer. Also, you have people who are not sure.
I mean, putting us all in this diagnostic manual is
(27:08):
hugely limiting and it does a huge disservice for a
full functional approach to brain health and wellness. And I
think it also adds to a lot of the stigma
that people run from when it comes to psychiatry. We
have to be real. Having certain diagnoses can impact professional
(27:33):
options right, Having certain diagnoses can potentially impact your own freedoms,
and we've come a long way from a field where
you could essentially be locked up, indefinitely, shamed, your family, shame,
all those things. We're still feeling all that. We're still
(27:54):
the one specialty of medicine that can hospitalize someone in volvoluntarily,
So it doesn't always lend itself to the most comfortable exchange.
A lot of times people approach psychiatrists with great hesitancy
because while they want to speak on what it is
that is going on with them, in the back of
(28:16):
their mind they're constantly thinking, is this the thing that
I say that.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Will then that'll get me in trouble?
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Yeah? Exactly.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
I'm thinking about all the different people that I know,
all the experiences, all the clients, right, and the ability
to start at an assessment of really what's going on,
not just what you can speak, but what's happening in
your body physically. My mother was mentally ill, and I
always felt that there was something, and for most of
(28:51):
her life as an adult struggling with mental illness, she
tried to find ways to nourish herself or to find,
you know, foods or tonics or different things that would
help to alleviate some of the symptoms of her mental illness.
(29:14):
And I even then, like I was on that road
with her, because there's got to be it's impossible that
I think that we treat mental illness as if it
just is. It just is what it is. And now
we're going to move forward and it's chronic and this
is just who how you are going to experience this lifetime.
(29:40):
And it is such an epiphany to hear from the brain,
the medical community that focuses on the brain, that just
the simplicity in let's take a look at what's going
on in there, correct, Right, Let's take a look at
what's actually happening physically and treat it. And that's really
(30:03):
the mind body connection. Like that is the connection. But
it hadn't been brought in enough.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
At all, right, Like just even think about how because
imaging is not considered a normal, established part of a
psychiatric work up in a lot of cases, insurance doesn't
pay for it. Right. Still still yes, and we're talking
(30:32):
about types of images. Right, So if I come into
an er and I have paralysis on one side, the
first thing they're gonna do is image my brain.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
They're not going to talk to you until they've taken
a look at what's happening physically in so many cases.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
But if I come in suicidal, they're not going to
do that, right, So think about what's considered diagnostic criteria
for paying for scans, for considering it medically indicated. There
(31:12):
are lots of rules around that. There are also rules
around paying for treatments. One of the best treatments for
people that have had a head injury is hyperbaric oxygen. Well,
the FDA pays for or proves hyperbaric oxygen for certain conditions,
but head injuries is not on that list.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
How is that possible?
Speaker 1 (31:36):
So there's a lot that we have to do in
terms of the system with access, because you can still
have all these great information, but when it comes to
our communities and really getting it to the underserved and
making it affordable, that is a whole another challenge, right
(31:59):
Doctor Amen, myself and other doctors are taking part in
this brain health initiative with the Faith Committee at the
White House, where there's a lot of attention being drawn
to the entire system being broken, getting away from even
(32:20):
using terms like mental illness because it's so stigmatizing, but
normalizing brain healthy conversations. I'm talking about my brain. I
can give you another example. Some people who have OCD
obsessive compulsive disorder, where there's a lot of checking and
repetitive compulsive thinking. Most people don't know that that can
(32:44):
be caused by a bacteria, right, And that a lot
of children who present with a sudden onset of OCD
symptoms have recently had a strap infection, and that there
are certain antioxidants and supplements that you can get instead
of giving them prozac right to help with those symptoms,
(33:06):
and antibiotics. Right. So, until we understand that we shouldn't
be diagnosing people based on their symptoms, will continue to
have people walking around with underlying health conditions that have
not been properly worked up and medicated with pharmaceuticals that
(33:32):
unfortunately can lead to long term negative outcomes. My cousin
Andre now lives with tardiv dyskinesia because he was given
a certain class of medication that we refer to as neuroliptics.
He was given that class of medication for years and
(33:54):
it long term can cause the brain to present like
someone with Parkinson's, so they refer to that as tart
out dysconesia. It's an uncontrolled movement because of the mechanism
of the medication over many decades, a lot of people
(34:16):
are living that, some of whom weren't even told in
some cases that it was a risk.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
So, yeah, you know, we talk on this podcast and
all of the work that I do is around generational
healing and through the lens your lens as a psychiatrist.
What role does brain health play in legacy health?
Speaker 1 (34:46):
Huge starting with conversations, starting with just even being able
to talk about cognitive functioning and brain health. Going back
to what I told you about my father's comment, my
father is a Vietnam War veteran, experienced a lot of trauma,
(35:06):
survived malaria, grew up in Wentworth Gardens on the South
Side of Chicago. His father was from Kingston, Jamaica. My
grandmother really struggled financially. There was a lot of trauma.
But for many generations, you don't talk about that. You
(35:27):
don't talk about things that may lead to you being
perceived as weak, lesser than not capable. There are lots
of experiences when it comes to generational healing that I'm
gonna say, baby boomers, they're not going to talk about
(35:47):
like that's not how they were raised. They were raised
here no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. What
goes on in his house stays in his house. And
for a lot of that it was for protection, right.
And so I think that generational healing is so important.
It's so hard for one or two people in a
family dynamic to want to free themselves from the shackles
(36:11):
of trauma and trauma and all the things, and then
have a multitude of other family members that see them
as messy or bringing up stuff that we don't want
to talk about. It's such a delicate dance. And so
I am just like you in that regard. I believe
that healing has to start a lot of that generational
(36:35):
trauma that in some families have been there for many,
many generations, and being able to not approach it from
a shameful place, but a place of being motivated to heal,
to come out on the other side with new information,
(36:56):
knowledge and empowerment instead of continuing to pass on negative,
negative brain health outcomes is what is how I said,
I don't know if you're familiar with the Acist study,
but Adverse Childhood Experiences Survey, I would encourage any one
(37:20):
of your audience to go through that survey and understand
that there is a disease connection to experiencing early childhood
adverse events, whether it be in your home outside the home,
it is hugely important for you to not only take inventory,
(37:41):
but to do all the things that will help you
reset your health. Even if generationally being stressed out, being
in fight or flight is normalized and suppressing and not
talking right. Helping people to just live in their truth
and not have to deny what it is about them
(38:05):
that maybe is not accepted in their family or accepted
in certain spaces that makes you sick, okay, And so
I think that piece is really really important for the
audience to understand. We start off very early on impacting
the health of our children, our teenagers, our young adults
(38:27):
by the messages that we give them, everything that they're watching,
everything that we're saying, modeling all the things. This is
the hard drive, it's being downloaded, and it's hard to
delete files once they're in there. So I try to
help people as much as I can delete and download
(38:47):
new information.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
And make some space in there. No, you know, And
I want to stay here for a second because I
think what needs to be normalized is to be able
to talk about even what's not seen. I think we're
taught and programmed to appear normal, to appear functioning, to
function higher, and when we feel some struggle with that,
(39:14):
to just do better, get more organized, get more focused,
work harder, you know, and we treat ourselves and as
a result, other people like a robots yep.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
You know.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
And I think that if we the more, this is
information that has to get out there. These are the
kind of conversations that we need to have at the
(39:52):
table because if someone were to come to the table
and excuse the grossness of this, but throw up on
the table, we'd address that correct because something happened that
we all see.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
It's tangible.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
It's tangible exactly, That's what it is.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
But that's the difference.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
Yeah, the person who's sitting at the table struggling to function,
struggling to show up and appear normal. And I'm putting
that in air quotes. We don't see that. And until
more and more parents and I'm close to baby boomer
than I am too millennial, and I know there's a
(40:29):
generation in there that I'm missing, but uh, you know,
I was raised like you pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
And you you know, I'm the daughter of a Haitian
father and a Puerto Rican mother, so you pull yourself
up by your bootstraps. You just it's all about making
it happen. And there was you know, no no disrespect
(40:50):
to my parents at all, but there was no room
to talk about the thing that seemed imperfect, correct, right,
and it was all and it was all with the
best of intention, right, like don't let that get you down.
Just get up and go. You'll be fine, Like get
(41:12):
dressed and get up and take a shower. You're fine,
It's fine, It's okay. And when I think about my
own life as a young person living through my parents
being divorced, and you know, I'm going through like a
series of things that happened in my own life that
I know are very similar to the experiences as so
many people experience. What happens is that behavior gets passed
(41:36):
along to me. Then I take it and I pass
it along to my unchecked. If it goes unchecked, if
I don't stop to say, wait a minute, I'm I'm
hurting this situation happened, how is it impacting me? And
now with this added so simple but formerly so hidden,
(42:00):
this added piece of the puzzle where it's like how
I'm feeling and how the symptoms that are coming out
emotionally and mentally, but also what's happening in my body. Yes,
for us to normalize those conversations and educate parents and
grandparents with what this means and how focusing on brain
(42:26):
health can help the people that they love, we need
to be having those conversations more.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Yes, relational emotional intelligence starts with brain health. If you
get the brain right, your mind will follow. Yeah. Right,
so we're talking about raising brain healthy children. I think
it's baby boomer, gen egg, a millennial, the gen z. Yes, Okay,
(42:58):
I'm the earliest millennial.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Okay, there you go.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
But yeah, but the baby bo I mean, like they're
I just I mean I see it in my own family.
I see it obviously every day in the professional space
where just even that theme of perfectionism, and I tell
perfectionism is not an attainable goal. You're going to be
disappointed every time. And where is the balance with setting
that bar wanting to achieve, but also making sure that
(43:28):
you take care of you unapologetically. We literally live in
a society where you can really really neglect yourself and
get all the accolades right.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
Yes, and be encouraged to neglect yourself.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
You're a hard worker, you push through, you're resilience, right,
all those things, But we need to step away from
when a person needs support, help and a space for
them to keep it one hundred without us labeling that
is weakness or breakdown. I tell people all the time,
(44:06):
where do you think the term she had a nervous
breakdown came from? That's menopause. Why are all.
Speaker 2 (44:12):
These women there were a bunch of other things happening
on top of it. It's too much and you lost.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
All your estrogen, ma'am. Please be nice to yourself, be
gentle with yourself. It's hard out here without especially those
years where our brain is literally adjusting to the decrease
and the fluctuations of those hormones. But I mean being
in the space that I'm in, I get to see
(44:39):
firsthand how hormones affect women when it's really really a
negative impact. But even on the milder side of that spectrum,
you have women every day in that chapter of life,
and we're still expected to show up and show out.
What are we doing to support those biological changes or
you instead of just shaming.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
Yeah, in my friend's circle, they know, they know, but
I will in a minute say I'm sorry, I'm not coming.
Speaker 1 (45:11):
Girl. What do you mean?
Speaker 2 (45:13):
No, I'm not. Well, what are you gonna do? I'm
gonna take a nap.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Girl.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
You can sleep when you're dead.
Speaker 1 (45:16):
I'm like that. Yeah, maybe, but I'm gonna go lay down.
I need a day, Yeah, I need a day. That's
another one that's huge too, especially in the high achieving spaces.
Lack of sleep. You when you're sleeping. People, we look
at sleep. It's just this waste of time, you know,
the whole I'll sleep when I'm dead. Okay. When people
(45:37):
say that to me, I said, well you might get
there a lot sooner than you than you want to, okay,
because you when you sleep, your brain takes out the garbage.
Your brain is firing all day long, all these chemical
reactions and doing things just like that. I mean, you
don't have to think about half of the autonomic stuff
that your brain is doing. You don't think it needs
(46:00):
to be plugged in, Just like your cell phone. That's
when you plug it in, when you recharge your battery.
That's what sleep is anybody that I sleep deprived for
five days, ten days, What do you think they're gonna
look like? If I ductate their eyelids open and put
them in a closet and go back in there, They're
gonna be season, psychotic, manic, possibly all the things. It's
(46:23):
gonna be a big ball of electricity that's miss firing.
So that one, I want to say, for sure, we
really really focus in on sleep hygiene, quality of sleep.
I can't tell you how many scans I've done where
it looks like inflammation, low, low blood flow. The person's like,
I don't know, I think I have ADHD. No, you
(46:46):
have sleep athte Okay, so you have to take in
all of the systems to really accurately diagnose. You know,
so many people want to be at the top of
their game, which I undred percent respect. But there are
lots of natural things that we can do other than saying, okay,
(47:07):
well now I must have this executive function of disorder
and let me take X, Y and Z. You know,
it's kind of the band aid, right.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
So, and the thing is, and the thing that I
am acutely aware of and I know you are as well,
is with all those things you just described in the
person who's sleep deprived and you know, low oxygen to
the brain and all of that. Those are the people
that are raising their children in relationships with other people.
(47:39):
They're your colleagues, you know, they're the people that you're managing,
and the people that are being managed the people that
are managing you. And this is why this is so important.
And I think that because this world society teaches us
(48:00):
and it's not true and it's incorrect that you just
get out there and go in the world and do
the thing, and there's and as long as you're not
bleeding out or falling out, or as long as your
body has not sent you to bed, which our bodies
can do when we've pushed it too far. I no, I,
(48:20):
it's happened to me on more than one occasion. Right.
We think that we're okay, but it's this is a
quality of life discussion. This is what we can do
to more positively impact not just ourselves, but positively impact
our ability to contribute to our familiar legacy.
Speaker 1 (48:43):
It is important, very important.
Speaker 2 (48:46):
So let's let's talk about how for the person who's listening.
And I think that by by now in this conversation
we have talked about all the reasons you need to
be sitting down, ears open, ready to hear this next part. Okay,
understanding how important it is to focus on brain health.
(49:09):
How does a parent help their child or their children
to better understand brain health and what can a person
do for themselves.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
Starting with health literacy, starting with educating on purpose yourself
about how your body works. It's crucial starting very young,
having open conversations about body functions, how to take care
of the body. Right, it's not just a passenger in
(49:44):
the seat of life that's just along for the ride.
We want to be intentional about what we're doing to
take care of ourselves. So I would start very young
with having those conversations with your children and making it fun,
making it interactive, normalizing it. I'm big on report cards
(50:05):
and families. We get graded at school. Let's get some
grades out.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
Let's have a personal development plan at.
Speaker 1 (50:10):
Home, correct, right. I believe that parents should make a
space where their kids can respectfully give them feedback, not
be you know, I'm your parent, you do as I say.
Go sit down and be quiet, but respectfully we're going
to have a conversation. What are some things that you
may need for me, What is it that you'd like
(50:32):
to see me do more of or less of? You know,
in child therapy sessions with parents, those are questions that
I kind of start out with, what are we working on,
where are we getting great grades? Where's their room for improvement?
And just normalizing the conversation. So many people are just
scared to give feedback to individuals because, let's just be real,
(50:57):
a lot of people are not receptive when it comes
to saying, this is what I think you need to
work on.
Speaker 2 (51:03):
But at home, it's the job of the parent to
create a safe space absolutely for children to be able
to share what makes sense, even what doesn't make sense.
That is part of our job. Our role and ask
questions is to ask questions, to talk a little bit less,
ask more questions, and ensure that you're creating a safe
(51:27):
space where your child can come and tell you what's
going on so that you can truly help them correct.
Speaker 1 (51:34):
How we receive that, how we support it and facilitated
is huge. Keep the aces top of mind as you're parenting.
Am I doing any of these things? Am I in
any way creating a toxic traumatic environment for my child?
We all know that doesn't have to be physical abuse
(51:57):
or maltreatment.
Speaker 2 (51:58):
We don't all know that, Pasha, we don't all know
that that's part of the problem.
Speaker 1 (52:03):
Let me be clear that a lot of abuse is
not because of the laying of hands or objects. That's right.
A lot of abuse is neglect, okay, being checked out.
I don't have time to talk to you because I've
got all this stuff I need to do after my
work day, and just you may have all the best intentions,
(52:24):
but how that's received by the child is what's important. Also,
consider just not seeing what the child wants to bring
to you as important, kind of just chewing it away
or like, oh, like you said, you're fine, fine, all
you need to do is blah blah blah. So I
(52:44):
would say having those conversations intentionally. I encourage parents who
I work with to put it on the calendar. We're
going to have our thirty minute meeting where you get
an opportunity to tell me how I'm showing up vice versa.
That way, every time we have these conversations or I'm
giving my child feedback is not just when something is wrong.
(53:08):
The balance with that is huge because a lot of
kids only hear from their parents, and it's something that
they want them to address that they see is wrong.
So you'll get kids to say like, well, yeah, all
my mom or all my dad cares about is if
I have the best grades or if I'm in this organization.
But they don't feel loved outside of that. It's a
(53:30):
performance based love. Okay, if you do X, Y and Z,
then I will show you how much I care. We
need to tell our kids that regardless of what it
is that they're seeking to achieve. I think the teaching
kids very early on how to take care of their brain.
We have a program called brain Thrive to twenty five
(53:52):
that I use with a lot of students whom I
work with. I also live here in Parkland where unfortunately
there was a mass shooting, and I've taken the time
to go into those schools talk to students about all
the things that help grow a beautiful, healthy brain. Again, unapologetically,
(54:14):
what are those ingredients? Right? How much screen time, how
much sleep, how much fiber, how many omega threes? Like
having all those conversations and not making it separate from
how you feel. All those things impact how you feel,
how you show up, how you focus on any given day.
(54:35):
But the emotional intelligence I think is key with kind
of where we're coming from as a collective. Being able
to be there for your kids and create a space
to talk about emotions, to talk about feelings, talk about
relationships with other students and teachers. It is very important
(54:56):
because they're learning right now in real time, just like
they learn how to ride a bike, how to relate
to people. Once they step outside that house and they're
modeling what you're doing, they are downloading a lot of
information consciously unconsciously, and they're going to show up in
the world as a product of all of those ingredients.
(55:18):
So I think that parents need to feel a little
more empowered. I think that everybody talks about work life balance.
We know, for us high achievers who are also parents,
easier said than done right.
Speaker 2 (55:34):
And it's harmony. It's not balanced. It's never going to
be balanced. It's never going to be fifty to fifty.
It's just not how it is.
Speaker 1 (55:40):
There you go, yeah, But making sure that that lesson
is taught, that your child's emotional wellbeing, physical well being
is just as important as their grades and how they're
achieving in school. That message is really lost in a
lot of families across many different cultural groups. To be
(56:04):
honest with you, it's I think it's more of our
you know, priorities that we have in our society.
Speaker 2 (56:10):
Right, And if we're sitting and I'll just I know
we're coming short on time if you're sitting, and if
your defensiveness lead you to say things like, well, I
feed them, I clothed them, I send them to school,
I send them to soccer. I blah blah blah. A
list of things that you do that's indicative of you
(56:31):
looking at the wrong thing, because those are yes, you're
doing that.
Speaker 1 (56:36):
There are some parents that truly I kids you not.
And it's so funny you would say that. Maybe about
four months ago, had a similar conversation with a relative
because we were trying to speak on the dynamic between
that individual and their adult child, and they listed that
same list. Yes, I did this. I put a roof
(56:58):
over your head. I made sure I went to work
every day. I made sure you had clothes on your back,
I made sure you had food in it. And the
conversation was do you think that your child felt love
by you? And that was the list to say, well,
they better because I did all these things so I
know they got to feel loved, and if they don't,
it sounds like a them PROPM.
Speaker 2 (57:19):
But we need to make it make sense because here's
the thing in a relationship, and I'm not going to
go too deep into it, because you and I can
dive into this conversation for five hours. I can feel
it right, I feel it correct. But in a relationship,
if you were in a relationship with someone and you
said to that person, I do not feel cared for,
and that person said to you, what are you talking about.
(57:40):
I took out the garbage last week, I brought you
the newspaper. I'm dating myself. I brought you roses and
gave you a list. I took you out to dinner
and gave you a list of things that they did
for you. What that does is it translates into a
relationship that's based on what that person has taken from themselves.
(58:00):
And we cannot approach our parenting in that way because
our role as parents the basics are to make sure
that your children eat and you know, are fed and
clothed and how that's survival mode exactly. That is survival
mode parenting.
Speaker 1 (58:17):
But we've normalized it to make it as that you
should be given me five stars.
Speaker 2 (58:23):
Yeah, and you get the stars for that. But just
like any other report or report card, right, there are sections,
so you get a for that necessity. Now let's move
on to the other things. Right, how have you taught
this person to be in relationship with themselves?
Speaker 1 (58:44):
Right?
Speaker 2 (58:45):
How have you contributed to the quality of the relationship
that that person is in with themselves? Because that's who
that person has to walk through the rest of their
lives interacting with.
Speaker 1 (58:56):
It's the first relationship we have.
Speaker 2 (58:58):
Yeah. Yeah, and then they want end up going to
Napasha doctor Napasha Tea gettings and she has to work
with them to undo some of that nonsense. Right, So
I'm not trying to take you out of your work.
You know, we need to really pay attention to this.
(59:18):
We need to really pay attention to the importance of
the quality of the relationships that we're having and the
quality of the spaces that we're creating in our homes
and help our children and the people who we love
and the people who are around us to focus on
the right things.
Speaker 1 (59:37):
Like their life depended on it. That's because it actually does,
that's right.
Speaker 2 (59:43):
Yeah, So how can we tell us really quick, like,
what do you do? What does it look like? How
can people interact? How can people come to you to
get some help and support?
Speaker 1 (59:56):
Yeah, so I'm Florida Base. I work with clients all
over the US and some internationally. All of my services
are telehealth, but I use We have eleven clinics nationwide
for brain imaging, so I work with clients wherever you
(01:00:17):
are locally we can arrange for not only a functional imaging,
but also functional assessment. My handle on all social media
is at dr Gettings doctor Gettings. My website is doctor
Gettings dot com. It is currently being revamped and rebuilt,
(01:00:39):
health library coming, and I'm starting an entire new venture
known as Clarion neuro where I'll be integrating lots of
technology that will allow not only the interface with accessing records,
but also imaging labs, all the things. So to find me.
(01:00:59):
It's not doctor Gettings dot Com. I'm really building out
my YouTube channel putting a lot of content on there,
So for those of you YouTubers please go watch subscribe. Yeah,
doctor Getting.
Speaker 2 (01:01:14):
We'll put all that information into the show notes and
doctor Getting's one last question, how can we support you.
How can we support this incredible work that you're doing.
Speaker 1 (01:01:27):
I would say the best way to support me is
have more conversations about brain health just on a daily basis.
I know we create these types of platforms in order
to really educate and take deep dives and go over
all the things, but I think just committing to intentionally
(01:01:51):
talking about brain health and mental wellness does a lot
because so many people are comfortable having those conversations, and
just a little bit of normalizing education and safe spaces
goes a long way making sure that they know that
(01:02:14):
I'm out there, that I'm a resource, and that I
work with a great team of doctors that are really
dedicated to changing this mental illness construct that we have
and transitioning it to a wonderful brain health initiative where
we can all unapologetically talk about our brains.
Speaker 2 (01:02:36):
And how I know you said that you mentioned that
your website you're working on revamping it. How can a
person who's listening, who knows that they need to reach
out to you, how can they do that?
Speaker 1 (01:02:50):
Info at doctor gettings dot com. Okay, that email right
there will get you to my team, and any questions
that you have just send them to info at d
R G E T t I NGS dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:03:10):
Thank you so much for I know how busy you are.
Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
You're welcome. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:03:15):
I appreciate you spending this hour with me, I really do.
And thank you so much for shedding light on something
that is so important, critical, critical to the quality of
the familiar legacy that we pass along and also to
the quality of life that we have. I mean imagine
being able to find a way to actually address some
(01:03:38):
of these hidden discomforts that so many of us live with.
So thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (01:03:44):
Thank you over the work. Thank you for doing I
look forward to working with you and many others. So
I see this is the beginning.
Speaker 2 (01:03:56):
That was such a great conversation. I enjoyed it so much.
Connecting with doctor gettings with such a blessing, a blessing
for all of us. I love learning, and I am
fascinated that I'm getting to learn so much about brain health,
and I guess it's better late than never. I encourage
(01:04:19):
you that if something about this episode resonated for you,
please like and share the episode with other people. And
if there's something in this episode that touched you, if
there's something that you know you need to do differently
to better impact the environments that you live within, please
(01:04:42):
go ahead and do that. The more we're willing to
take small steps towards healthier living mental, emotional, physical, spiritual,
the better we all are. Sometimes we focus so much
on what's happening out there, and I'm here to encourage
you to focus your attention on the place where you
(01:05:04):
truly have the most agency, and that's within yourself. Your
family will thank you for it, the people you're in
relationship will thank you for it. And I want to
deeply thank doctor Napasha Gettings for taking the time to
share her incredible knowledge and experience with us. So until
next time, this is Lisan Boskia with the Shaping Freedom podcast.
(01:05:27):
Be well.
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